Trade rumblings

I mentioned last week that the Vancouver Canucks had a conversation with the Washington Capitals about Martin Erat — who has asked for a trade — but the Canucks after some thought decided to pass. Ditto for the Ottawa Senators, who initially showed a bit of interest but ultimately decided Erat wasn’t a fit. …

The name of winger Jamie McGinn is making the rounds of late, one source telling ESPN.com that Avalanche head coach/executive Patrick Roy has mentioned his name in conversations with a few teams in an attempt either to land a defenseman or a veteran checking forward. … While the Panthers are willing to move some of their veteran forwards, such as Tomas Fleischmann or Scottie Upshall, the more intriguing name making the rounds is that of young blueliner Dmitry Kulikov, who is RFA after the season. There is perhaps fear he’ll want big money or go to Russia next season, which is why he’s being made available, but he’s certainly worth a gamble in my books for teams looking to upgrade their blue line.